NEW BATTERY

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Volume 58, Issue 215, 11 October 1929, Page 4

NEW BATTERY

. . AN ERISH SECRET. The shrourl of mystery drawn around the electric battery invented by Mr James T. Drumm, of University College, Dublin, is tightly drawn, says a London paper. . All attempts to get details of the discover>' have failed. The youthful inventor himself refuses to be interviewed, and Government departments, which have taken elaborate steps to prevent leaknge of information, courteously deeline to go beyond tlie staternent made spme time ago in the Dail hy ihe Minister for Industiy and Commerce. " . . Attention was first drawn to Mr Drumm's laboratorv work a few weeks ago by 'Professor Nolan, of the Experimental Physics Faculty. "University College. Dublin. When .the 11 ew-ly-invented battery had reached a siage at which there was ground for believing that it had potentialities which might produce revolutionary results in the transport world the Eree State Government caused a company to be formed to develop the invention. The Government obtained the sanction of the Dail to make a grant in aid of the development of the invention, and nominees of the Government took a majority of the sliares in the £5000 capltal provided for ejs.ploiting the dis- • covery. It is claimed that battery cliarging. now such- a slow process, . would be reduced from hours to minutes, and if the expectations raised by tlie invention are realised it will be possible to charge a railway loeomotive with sufficient power in--seveh to '-ten minutes to enable it to do a considerable jourr.ey. What this would mean to the Free State at a moment when it is about to begin production of electricity 011 the Shannon scheme may be easily imagirled. By providing at a single stroke An enormous additional demand for electricity, it would not merely'put beyond all possible doubt the success of the Shannon undertaking, but also convert it into' a tremendous natkmal asset producing quite unexpectedly profitahle results. Moreover, the invention would be the salvation of the railway companies' in the Free State, . now badly: in need of tsome. magic touch to restore them tui prospei'ity. The calculations made "siig'gest! that the time spent ,en lougrailway journeys would be almost halved and that an electrically driven traiii would cut two hours off the time at present taken 011 a trip to Cork or Galway. Again, while the electrification oi the line to Cork by means of overhead wire or third rail would cost £1,000,000, this • secret battery would, it has been calculated, provide electrification on the line at £80,000. Engineering apd. scientific quarters Were excited some time agp when it was announced that tests of the' new battqry would he made on the Great Southern Railway toward the end of July. But it is impossible to ascertain what progress has been made toward the holdmg of these tests. The Government and the inventor alike meet every inquiry with a polite rqfnsal te disclose their plans, and railway officials know nothing, or protess to know nothing, of the arrangeinents for the trials. Public interest in the matter has, however,- been again raised to a high pitch by an announceraent in the Star, the semi-official organ of the Government. The Drumm battery, says this journal, has been submitted to exhaustive laboratory tests during the past few weeks, and the results justify the highest hopes for success when the battery is tested under working conditions upon the .-railway in the course of tlie nexb week or two. Tliose fiompetent to express an opinion upon the Drumm battery,, al\e convjnceq that ^ there* Are ■ lver.y ; good giou'nds ' for that it will stand up to the tests under actual working conditions. Oue tliing seems to be certain, at any rate, and that is that Dr. Drumm's discovery will cliange the whole 'system of battery manufacture as it exists at present. Sliould the new invention prove capable of being utilised ior transport purposes it will be necessary to proceed almost immediately with the full development , of the. Shannon scheme, tlie first stage of which is now almost complete. Tlie Star adds that the scheme is certain,' despite uninforHTed lay critics, to be an overwhelming success.